Asian Games medallist Shiva Narwal picked up India’s first gold medal by winning the men’s 10m air pistol shooting event on the opening day of the ISSF Junior World Cup 2026 in Cairo, Egypt, on Tuesday.
Shiva Narwal struck gold in Cairo with a score of 241.8 in the men’s 10m air pistol final. Uzbekistan’s Sodikjon Abdullaev finished second with a total of 240.0, while Shiva Narwal’s fellow countryman Chirag Sharma was third with 218.9.
Abhinav Deshwal finished seventh in the men’s 10m air pistol final with 114.4.
Shiva Narwal had also topped the qualification round with a score of 576 – 19x, while Abhinav Deshwal (576 – 16x) and Chirag Sharma (575 – 13x) were third and fourth, respectively.
Earlier in the day, Panaah Bhugra clinched India’s first medal at the junior ISSF World Cup with a score of 250.6 to secure silver in the women’s 10m air rifle event.
France’s Anceline Brackman narrowly edged past Panaah Bhugra to claim gold with a score of 252.0. Another French shooter, Helena Ecale, secured bronze with 228.6.
Three Indian shooters qualified for the women’s 10m air rifle final. Shambhavi Shravan Kshirsagar finished fourth with a total of 206.5, while Anvii Rathod was sixth with 164.6.
In the qualification round, Shambhavi Kshirsagar topped the field with a score of 634.0. Panaah Bhugra (629.4) and Anvii Rathod (628.6) were fourth and sixth, respectively. Manyata Singh (628.3), Anushka Thokur (627.9) and Aneesha Sharma (627.1) took spots from eighth to 10th, respectively, in the field of 33.
Egypt’s Mervat Anwar Mohamed (626.8), who finished 11th, qualified for the eight-shooter final as a maximum of three per country could make it to the medal round.
The three medals on Tuesday saw India end the opening day of the tournament on top of the standings with a gold, silver and bronze.
A total of 284 athletes from 25 federations are competing in Cairo, with India fielding the largest contingent with 71 Indian shooters.
At last year’s ISSF Junior World Cup legs held across Germany’s Suhl and New Delhi, Indian shooters won 37 medals, including 17 golds – the most by any federation.
read more: https://www.olympics.com/en/news/issf-junior-world-cup-2026-cairo-shooting-india-men-10m-air-pistol-gold-medal
